GAME NIGHT (2018)

Directed by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

Starring: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, Kyle Chandler, Chelsea Peretti, Danny Huston, Jeffrey Wright

100 minutes

(R - strong language, adult themes, adult situations, violence)

PLOT:

Married Max and Annie are individually and as a pair ultra-competitive in every aspect of life, especially in playing games, they having met when they were captains on competing teams at a bar trivia night. They routinely host game nights which include married Kevin and Michelle, who have been sweethearts for what seems like all their lives, and less than bright Ryan and whoever the latest dim bulb he is dating at any given time. These nights used to include Gary and Debbie until their divorce, intense Gary, a police officer who now lives next door to them, excluded in he never really having been their friend. Gary would be gutted if he knew for certain they still have the game nights without him in he considering them his best friends in return. Max's competitiveness extends to feelings toward his more successful brother, venture capitalist Brooks, the stress of feeling emasculated in the comparison which Annie believes is the reason for Max's low sperm count and they unable to conceive despite trying. That competitive streak hits a new level when Brooks returns to town wanting to host a game night of what he considers the next echelon of games, a murder mystery of sorts where he has hired a company specializing in organizing and enacting such, thus not even he knowing who may be actors entering their lives this evening. In what Max, Annie, Kevin, Michelle, Ryan and his surprisingly bright date Sarah initially believe is Brooks' admittedly great game in FBI agents and Bulgarian thugs with guns entering their lives, they all slowly come to the realization that who they are facing are real Bulgarian thugs with real guns filled with real bullets. They subsequently also come to the realization that one of the best ways to save themselves under this situation is to bring Gary back into their lives without him knowing what's going on, both items which may be easier said than done. Max and Annie necessarily evaluate their lives in the process.

TRAILER: